BALTIMORE — It’s one thing when former NFL coaches accuse team owners of racist hiring practices, but it’s even more disturbing when those coaches claim they were paid by owners to lose games to improve their team’s position in the NFL draft.
For years, league officials and owners have been hiding behind the “Rooney Rule,” which requires teams to interview minority candidates for open general manager, coach and coordinator positions. But it clearly hasn’t worked. Since the NFL implemented the rule in 2003, 27 of 127 head coaching jobs have gone to minorities, according to the Associated Press. This year, white men have filled the first four of nine head coaching jobs.
The NFL is no different than any other organization. Businesses usually come to some type of understanding or verbal agreement with the person they want to hire and then go through “fake interviews” with minorities.
